Page 2 of Riot

But the tight set of her mouth and her crossed arms tell me everything. She’ll never accept this. She’ll never acceptme.

That knife drills into my gut.

“I gotta go,” I mutter.

She moves with me, and the fire in her eyes hides the fear rippling beneath the surface, but not enough to stop her grabbing my arm. It’s a steel band with one aim—to stop me from leaving.

“Please. I’m begging you. Don’t join them. You’re my brother. I love you.”

I flinch before I can brace for that blow, then I exhale through my nose, the rush of air loud in the suffocating silent room. “Julie, move.”

“I already lost Mum to these people. I won’t lose you too.”

She doesn’t mention Mace, but then she’s never viewed him as family.

“You’re acting like I’m never comin’ back. Nothin’ will change.”

A harsh sound scrapes out of her throat, sharp enough to cut the last threads holding us together. “You’re deluded if youbelieve that. They already brainwashed Mason into their little biker cult, and now you?”

Now, she’s just bein’ be a bitch.

“Don’t call him that.” I bristle at her blatant disrespect. “He fuckin’ hates that name, and you know it.”

It took time, but he dragged himself out of that pit of rage and agony by his fucking fingertips. When he got free, he buried ‘Mason’ sixty feet deep in that hole and was reborn as Mace.

Her dismissing his struggles so easily, so bitterly, sends a tidal wave of fire through my belly.

Her jaw flexes. “If you join them, you and I are done.”

I expected that final blow, but it still gores me.

“Julie!” Our mother’s barked anger cracks through the room, dragging our attention to the open door. The air thins, but my sister doesn’t flinch from our mother’s fury. Instead, she lifts her chin, defiant as always. “He’s your brother. You don’t give up on family.”

I appreciate Mum sticking up for me, but it won’t make a difference. Julie ain’t gonna back down.

“It’s okay,” I assure Mum.

I ain’t coming between my sister and our mother. They’ll need each other when I’m gone.

“No, Nathan, it’s not.” Mum snaps her attention to Julie, anger vibrating through every syllable. “Have I taught you nothing over the years? Family is everything, girl.”

Shame flickers across Julie’s face—hurt too—before the steel walls slam back into place.

“You’re really okay with him selling his soul to a bunch ofdegenerates?”

Mum sneers. That shit hits too close to home, and too hard. “Is that what you think I did? You think I sold my soul to the Sons?” The silence is louder than any words Julie could give.Mum sucks in a breath. “Thosemenhave been good to us. After your father died, they helped us keep this roof over our heads.”

Julie’s cheeks flush. “At what cost? I never understood why you allowed those bikers into our lives in the first place, and now, you’re just going to stand by while they take my brother—yourson—from us?”

Mum steps closer, her shoulders stiff. “I did what I had to for our family. I had three young children and no money.” Her breath rips out of her. “You don’t get to judge me when those sacrifices gave you the best education money could buy, a roof over your head, and food in your belly. You never wanted foranything, Julie, so don’t you dare stand there and condemn me for doing what I had to do to fix the mess your father left us in.”

It ain’t often Mum talks about our father, and for good reason. By all accounts, the man was a shithead.

Mum’s fingers tremble as she fusses with my shirt, brushing the creases in the material. “You’re a good man, Nathan, and a good son. Make me proud.”

My throat clogs.Fuck.

“Always,” I choke out.

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